A little girl is being praised for her very good manners after she wrote a letter to National Parks Service (NPS) rangers of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in which she apologized for taking a rock home with her as a souvenir. She also returned the stolen rock to them along with a donation.
The NPS took to Facebook to share the girl’s letter, and it immediately went viral.
“Dear Park Ranger, Deep Creek was awesome! I especially liked Tom Branch Falls,” the girl, named Karina, wrote in the beginning of the letter. “I loved it so much, I wanted to have a souvenir to come home with me.”
“So I took a rock. I’m sorry, and I want to return it,” she continued. “Also, here’s a donation!”
The letter ended with the girl saying to “also look on the back,” where she had drawn a picture of the Tom Branch Falls, a waterfall in the expansive park near Swain County, North Carolina.
The park rangers were so touched by Karina’s letter that they responded with a letter of their own in their Facebook post.
“Dear Karina, Thank you so much for returning the rock! It has made its way back to Tom Branch Falls. We are so glad you enjoyed your visit,” the park officials wrote. “Already, you are becoming an amazing steward for the park. Thank you for recognizing that what is in the park should stay in the park. If every visitor took a rock home, that would mean 11 million rocks would be gone from the park every year!”
The rangers went on to explain how important rocks are in the Great Smoky Mountains as homes for “hundreds” of creatures, including salamanders.
“Now that you know to leave nature the way you find it, we hope you will help share this message with others,” the officials concluded. “It is always a good thing to give another the chance to discover!”
Social media users just can’t get enough of Karina’s letter.
“So refreshing to see there are still parents teaching their children values! So sweet!” one user wrote, with another adding. “These are awesome parents to teach their children the importance of this and you all are wonderful for taking the time to write her back.”
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